RIA Novosti reported, President Nursultan Nazarbayev said at a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, that Russia was Kazakhstan's major partner on the international arena.

Mr Nazarbayev said bilateral commodity turnover had risen 47% over 2004 and reached $7 billion. Russia accounts for 25% of Kazakhstan's foreign trade, according to the president.

Mr Nazarbayev said the current border crossing arrangements would be preserved for both countries' residents after the borders had been delimited.

"There are talks around the problem. However, we are discussing delimitation, not demarcation. There will be no broken borders, and the [current] border crossing regulations for Russians and Kazakhs will be preserved," said Mr Nazarbayev.